Monday, October 19, 2009

Tebow Promise, 2009 Edition

Tim Tebow delivered another memorable speech, this time against Arkansas.

It obviously wasn't at the level of "The Promise" -- only only wonders what Tebow would have had to say if the Gators had lost to Arkansas. And it wasn't the same as his Oklahoma halftime speech.

But, from all reports, it sounded like it was something new: No fire-and-brimstone, just quiet-spoken confidence that would help his teammates through the 10-3 halftime deficit -- after the worst half of play Florida has had in the Tebow Era.

It wasn’t like a fiery speech. His face wasn’t red. He was just like, ‘I promise you, we’re going to do our thing. I trust you, you’re my brothers.’ It was more like he was reiterating his confidence in us. Don’t get too nervous about the situation, don’t start thinking we’re going to lose. Just believe in yourself, believe in each other and we’ll come out victorious.

Tebow himself provided some analysis of the prevailing attitude:

We were just fighting tooth and nail with everything we had to make that last play, make that last stop. At the end of the game, we were doing everything we could to win that game. I honestly think the reason we won was because of heart. We were not going to let each other down. We were not going to be stopped. We were going to get in field-goal range to put Sturgis in a position to make that. That was his attitude on that play. That was our coaches' attitude in believing in us.

For all the talk about Tebow's role on the field in the final drive, once again it is Tebow's off-field leadership -- his attention to the things that influence people -- that ultimately makes the difference.

No matter how great of a team you are you are going to look bad at times in college football. There is just too much adversity and chance involved. The fact they are still on a 16 game winning streak in the SEC is pretty compelling evidence that they are as good as any team to ever play. Especially with the parity in college football in this era.

As for the calls that went the Gators way.. you have to realize all the weird calls that go on against the Gators that keep teams in games that they win anyway. Look at the Kentucky game where Tebow was injured. The refs made several questionable calls in that game that contributed to Tebow being in a position to get injured in that game. No one remembers those though because the Gators win anyway even with the bad calls at times.

Sure, there are calls that go both ways, although those were blatantly bad calls in a game-tying drive so they obviously stand out.

A 16 game winning streak is very impressive, although it might actually suggest the SEC is not as stout as many believe beyond the top couple of teams, but that's another discussion.

There is no doubt that Florida is a great team, but THIS year they have definitely not been performing on a "greatest of all time" level like many have suggested they would. I would agree with the AP so far that Alabama appears to be the best team right now. But I suspect the Gator offense will get better as Tebow gets farther away from the concussion.